About 85% of Ujjwala beneficiaries in 4 States still use earthen stoves                                               

‘One more official in each booth will cut VVPAT delay’                                                                         

No end to discolouration of river Periyar in Kerala                                                                                 

ungus – Candida Auris, immune to drugs is secretly sweeping the globe                                          

About 85% of Ujjwala beneficiaries in 4 States still use earthen stoves

GS PAPER - 02 GOVERNANCE - Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes

Context :

• A recent survey by the Research Institute for Compassionate Economics has found that 85% of the beneficiaries of the Ujjwala scheme in rural Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan still use solid fuels for cooking.

• Among the surveyed households 53% exclusively used the chulha, while 32% used both.

 Key Highlights :

• Uttar Pradesh had the highest proportion of households exclusively using cooking gas and Rajasthan had the lowest.

• However, more than 98% of these households also own a chulha.

• Surveyors asked if food items — roti, rice, sabzi, dal, chai and milk — had been cooked on the chulha or the gas stove on the previous day.

• They found that only 27% of households exclusively used the gas stove.

• Another 37% reported using both the chulha and the gas stove, while 36% made everything on the chulha.

• The authors found several reasons for the low use of cooking gas:

  •  Ujjwala beneficiaries are poorer than households who purchase LPG in the open market and hence find the cost of refilling cooking gas cylinders prohibitively high.

  • Gender inequalities is another factor which influences the decision for opting solid cooking fuel over LPG.

  • The study has noted that since women are not generally economic decision makers in the household, the shift to LPG usage is hindered.

                                                                                                                                                                       Source :- The Hindu

‘One more official in each booth will cut VVPAT delay’

GS PAPER - 02 GOVERNANCE - Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

Context :

• Public Confidence In Integrity Of Electoral Process Will Increase With 50% VVPAT Verification: 21 Opp parties Tell SC

5.2days delays not a serious issue ::

• Twenty-one opposition parties, have submitted their rejoinder before the Supreme Court of India stating that 50% verification of VVPAT units against EVM machines in each constituency/segment will raise the level of public confidence in the integrity of electoral process in the country.

• However, the Election Commission had objected the opposition parties’ demand and argued before the SC that increasing VVPAT verification to 50% would delay Lok Sabha election results 5.2 days.

• Opposition parties have argued in the Supreme Court that deployment of one more official and an extra worktable in each polling booth will ‘substantially reduce’ the 5.2-day delay a proposed 50% VVPAT verification will cause.

                                                                                                                                                               Source :- The Hindu

  No end to discolouration of river Periyar in Kerala

GS PAPER - 03 ENVIRONMENT - Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment

Context :

• The Periyar River, which provides drinking water to Kochi city and adjoining areas yet again turned black near the Pathalam Regulator cum Bridge.

Concern :

• The discolouration of Periyar and fish kill has been a serious issue for last couple of years. Decrease in dissolved oxygen level has caused several fish-kills in the past few years.

• Discolouration of water, which has been a major cause of concern, continues.

• While water turned pitch black in one stream, it was milky near the regulator.

Reasons for Discolouration :

• It was found that the discolouration was due to the poor quality of water as a result of eutrophication.

• When excessive nutrients reach the waterbody, it will lead to algal bloom.

• A few days later, algae will die and decay, resulting in a foul smell and discolouration of water. Water in some reaches of the river system has been stagnant. Reduced water flow in the system has added to the deteriorating water quality.

• Huge quantities of organic load in the form of sewage from nearby townships are regularly reaching the river system.

• On residents’ charge that the discharge of untreated effluents into the river from industrial units was causing discolouration of water.

• Eutrophication due to dumping of sewage is to be largely blamed for discolouration.

Way forward :

• The river flow should not be restricted by closing the bund so that the natural pollutants will flow away from the water.

• Excessive discharge of pollutants from an unauthorized industrial unit functioning upstream must be controlled.

• Areas near industrial units are to be regularly monitored.

                                                                                                                                                             Source :- The Hindu

ungus – Candida Auris, immune to drugs is secretly sweeping the globe

GS PAPER - 02 GOVERNANCE - Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

Context :

• A mysterious and dangerous fungal infection called Candida auris has emerged around the world. The infection has been reported predominantly among patients in healthcare facilities.

Candida auris :

• auris is a mysterious and dangerous fungal infection that is among a growing number of germs that have evolved defenses against common medicines.

• It is a fungus that, when it gets into the bloodstream, can cause dangerous infections that can be life-threatening.

• It preys on people with weakened immune systems, and it is quietly spreading across the globe.

• Scientists first identified it in 2009 in a patient in Japan.

• Although auris was just discovered in 2009, it has spread quickly and caused infections in more than a dozen countries.

Concern :

• A major concern with the fungus is that it is resistant to many antifungal medications commonly used to treat Candida infections.

• It can be misidentified as other types of fungi unless specialized laboratory technology is used. This misidentification might lead to a patient getting the wrong treatment.

• Of late, fungi, just like bacteria are growing resistance to drugs and thus adding to the concern over antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

What made it so strong?

• For decades, public health experts have warned that the overuse of antibiotics was reducing the effectiveness of drugs that have lengthened life spans by curing bacterial infections once commonly fatal.

• But lately, there has been an explosion of resistant fungi as well, adding a new and frightening dimension to a phenomenon that is undermining a pillar of modern medicine.

• Simply put, fungi, just like bacteria, are evolving defences to survive medicines.

                                                                                                                              Source :- The Hindu

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